Luby Vann's Jam Lounge

The bar at 1240 Kaighn Avenue dates back to at least 1918, when James P. Daly was the saloonkeeper. James Daly lived in the large house next door at 1236 Kaighn with his wife Lillian and their children. When James P. Daly passed away his son James F. Daly took over the bar. The Daly family ran the bar until at least 1947. The bar was known alternately as the Parkside Tavern and/or as Daly’s Grille during this period.

The bar apparently changed hands in the 1950s. The 1956 New Jersey Bell Telephone Directory gives the name as Kaighns Bar, while the 1959 edition lists the establishment as the Public Bar. The 1966 Bell Telephone Directory does not list the business at all.

By the late 1970s Luby Vann and his business partner, a woman named Beverly, had bought the bar. Luby Vann had also bought the old Daly house at 1236 Kaighn as well. The bar was known as Luby V and Bev’s Jam Lounge until the early 1990s, when Luby Vann bought out Bev’s interest in the tavern.

The Jam Lounge bar staff remained virtually unchanged from the 1980s through early 2003, with Tonya tending bar in the evenings, and Gloria “Little Bits” Gibson serving drinks Tuesdays through Saturdays during the day. Sadly, Little Bits passed away in February of 2003.